A Different Story
by Feilyn
Summary: He doesn’t fall apart when he knows Kisuke is injured. The world won't end when they're apart. And Ichigo knows that Kisuke feels the same way but that doesn't mean they're any less in love. It's just different from your average fairytale. Shounen ai.


Ichigo knows it worries his friends, when he stares blankly and says, no, he doesn't really miss the other man all that much.

His friends, who have all found their other halves – or rather, have been stripped down to the essence in the midst of a war with no ending in sight, and discovered that those essences are really quite compatible. Rukia and Renji, Inoue and Ishida, Chad and Tatsuki. Nakama.

It's not like that for him though, and he can tell they don't get it.

The world won't end when he's away from Kisuke.

He does not think of him before he goes to sleep and when he wakes up in the morning.

And he sure as fuck doesn't refer to the man by _any_ pet name, even in his head.

He knows it's the same for Kisuke, but that doesn't make them any less in love.

Che. Yeah, he can think it. He's even said it once or twice, and if no one but the person who was meant to hear it heard, well, who the fuck cares? Ichigo finds it a little hard to believe that his nakama really thought he'd be any different.

A couple of them edged around the subject, but in the end it was Rukia (who else?) who came right out and asked him if it was just about the sex and if it was couldn't he find someone a little more…sane to indulge with? Maybe a person who _wasn't_ one of the causes of this whole war.

Ichigo stared and asked how the fuck they'd known he was even seeing the man, let alone screwing around with him. Renji coughed into his fist while Ishida made a pointed comment about how loud-mouthed idiots would always remain loud, regardless of the state of their idiocy. Ichigo wasn't entirely sure if this meant Ishida thought he was dumber or smarter. Tatsuki had bared her teeth to hide her worry and bluntly stated that he was a screamer, which, when there were four whole shinigami Divisions sleeping in the basement of the Urahara Shop, was probably not a smart idea.

Fuck 'em. They were just jealous because he was sleeping in a proper bed. Or not-sleeping, as it were.

xXx

His family understands. At least, he thinks they do. Goat-face winks at both Ichigo and Kisuke and tries to give them anatomically correct sex tips when he knows full well Ichigo's partner can pull a man apart and build him back up again. Literally. Ichigo's pretty sure the other man knows that almost everyone has sensitive earlobes. In fact, he's damn sure, after last night.

Yuzu sets an extra place at the table and although she sort of _has_ to considering it's Kisuke's table (the entire town's either dead, evacuated or living in one of the shinigami bases, of which Urahara Shop is one), the fact that she sits him next to Ichigo broadcasts her feelings loud and clear. Then again, she puts Goat-face on the other side so maybe it doesn't.

And while Karin mutters under her breath about father-complex's and exchanging one idiot for another, the way she hits Kisuke is almost exactly the same way she hits Goat-face, except she makes sure to never get his hat.

As for his mother, Ichigo holds onto the few stories he's gleaned from his father and hopes like hell she'd be happy with his choice (even though he won't change it, probably can't change it) until the other man let's on that he actually met Masaki (was best man at the wedding, actually, which is a little freaky but when life – or death – can be measured in centuries, what's a decade or so?) and she only hit him the first time. Which, when it comes to this particular man is as good a recommendation as any.

xXx

Yoruichi finds the whole situation damn funny, and Ichigo knows it. But, he figures, she's got a little leeway, seeing as she's the one who set them up in the first place. Or rather, she locked them in a room together and fed them aphrodisiac-laced food through a hole in the wall. In hindsight, it was fairly obvious that the whole thing had been a setup, considering of all people Kisuke would have known what was in the food at the first bite.

Of course, then she had walked in and taken photos for the Shinigami Women's Association, so maybe he should throw something at her.

But Ichigo knows that his relationship with Kisuke comes with Yoruichi on the price tag as well. Although she'll probably love it if he does end up tossing his ramen cup at her, especially considering it's the last one left in Karakura. And then he'll get his head smacked in, which she'll enjoy even _more_ and Ichigo know's he'll find absolutely _no_ sympathy in his partner who has gone through the same thing many, many times before.

But Yoruichi knows them both well now, and when Ichigo's friends come to her for advice on what to do, she laughs in their faces and tells them to leave well enough alone. Because while his nakama know _him _inside out (at least, when they stop to think about it), it takes knowing the both of them to understand their relationship, the way they love each other.

Because they do love each other, make no mistake about that.

xXx

Ichigo knows how the whole thing started. He knows when, what caused it, who was involved, where it happened (boy, does he ever. That spot on the ceiling has been etched into his brain for the rest of his life – and quite possibly his death as well), but what he doesn't know is why. Funny that, it's the only thing he doesn't really care about. Doesn't matter _why_ it happened, so long as it did.

He doesn't fall apart when he knows Kisuke is injured.

He doesn't lose control when the enemy taunts him about what will happen to his lover when (if – _if!_) he's killed.

And if the other man dies, Ichigo knows he won't be tempted in the least to leap onto the sharp end of the nearest zanpakutō.

And he knows it's the same for Kisuke, because their love just doesn't work like that. There won't be any stories written about it, no grand ballads or epic poems but hell, they're both going down in history for other reasons (and Ichigo knows Kisuke's holding out for a special mention of his hat).

Ichigo's pretty sure he doesn't want his private life on display like that anyway, and as exhibitionistic as Kisuke can be, he's not the man of mystery for nothing.

xXx

_A thumb pushes down on the crease between his eyebrows, supposedly wiping away the frown._

"_Oi. This isn't the time to be thinking so hard, Ichigo. Especially after _that_ performance."_

_The use of his name without the suffix means that Kisuke is perhaps mildly concerned. It's when he reverts back to 'Kurosaki-kun' that Ichigo knows he's cocked up somewhere._

_Ichigo raises a previously drawn eyebrow. "Maybe you just can't keep up, Kis_uke_." It's immature and he knows it, but damn, sometimes there's no other word to describe his lover so it's only fair he gets a little of his own back._

_Plus, Ichigo really is up for another round and by the fire he's just lit in Kisuke's eyes, he is too._

xXx

It's just them, how they are. They've lived without each other once, they're fully capable of doing it again.

Whether or not they _want_ to, well... that's a different story.


End file.
